Rings
by mandaree1
Summary: Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo travel all the way to Canterlot to speak to the Princesses about a very important matter, one they can't discuss with anyone else.


**Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony; Friendship Is Magic.**

**Title: Rings**

**Summary: Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo travel all the way to Canterlot to speak to the princesses on a very important matter, one they can't discuss with anyone else.**

**Pairing: Sweetie BellexApplebloomxScootaloo**

**Warnings:... Fluffy? Does that count? Beware the accursed fluff!**

**...**

The sun shone high in the sky, brightening the colorful buildings of Canterlot while also making the shadows disappear. In one of the lesser used streets of the city, one that wasn't filled to the max with tourists, a trio of ponies carefully made their way through the streets and alleyways, careful not to draw any attention to themselves and raise unwanted questions.

"_Wow_..." One, a snow white unicorn with purple highlights, breathed. "It's _beautiful_. No wonder Sis goes on about it all the time."

"Eh. I've seen better." A Pegasus, around the same age of the unicorn, rolled her eyes. Her coat was a colorful shade of orange, with a purple mane curving above her forehead. Although seeming calm and disinterested to the passing eye, her companions could easily see the way she'd excitedly glance at certain sculptures and buildings, attention wholly focused on looking over the details before looking towards the next.

The last, a cream-colored earth pony with a bushy red mane and a bright bow holding it up in the back, chuckled good-naturedly. "We can sight-see our next visit. I hear the Princesses are really busy, 'specially at this hour. If we don't get there soon, we'll have ta' wait even longer."

The Pegasus groaned irritably. "We have to wait _in line_?" She sighed, her wings twitching and shuffling at the thought of standing still for hours on end.

The pony nudged her side with the side of her flank. "Hey, it's worth it, right?" She paused, feeling a small bout of awkwardness take hold. "That is, if'in you still want to, that is."

"Of course I do!" She paused, her face beginning to heat up at the loud volume her tone of voice had taken. Her ears awkwardly fell back against her head. "Uh, if both of you are okay with it, I mean."

"I'm okay with it!" The unicorn hopped up and down, vaguely reminding the other two of a certain, well-known party-planner. Taking a moment to imagine the comparison, the other two quickly shook the thought away.

"Me too." The earth pony smiled, easily keeping pace with the one hopping nearby. Her wings easily being the strongest part of her body, the pegasi struggled to keep up with the set pace, but made no comment on the subject.

"Yeah, but... aren't we a little_ young_? I mean, we're barely even old enough to _be here_ without any parental supervision." The earth pony rolled her eyes.

"Stop exageratin'."

Her wings fluttered a bit closer to the ground in her embarrassment, the blush deepening a tad. "Sorry. It's just... I don't want any of us to regret this, ya know?"

"Yeah, ah' know." She put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "We're all worried. But this'll work, ah' know it will. Right?"

"Of course!" The unicorn smiled wide. "I'm excited! Aren't you?"

"Yup." She smiled in turn. "Sorry, I'm making a fuss outta nothing." Smiling mischievously, she bunched up her leg muscles before taking off in a run. "Race you there!"

"Hey, no fair!"

"You got a head start!" She paused to stick her tongue out, before restarting the fast trek.

Panting, she skidded to a stop. "I... won." The earth pony rolled her eyes.

"Nu-uh, you cheated! You got a head-start!" The unicorn stopped last, flopping back against the nearby fence. Panting, she pointed an accusing hoof at the orange pegasi.

"Yeah, I saw you use your wings! That's an automatic disqualification!" Chuckling, the pegasi puffed out her chest.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm awesomely fast."

"Excuse me, do you have to see the Princesses?" The burly guard raised an eyebrow at the scene before him, but his training helped him to keep his expression stoic. Chuckling at a bunch of ponies acting silly wouldn't do the guard _any good_ with the media. The _last_ thing they needed was for all of Equestria to start thinking that the guard was going soft. "If not, then I'll have to ask you to leave the premises."

The trio immediately straightened up, smoothing back ruffled manes and shaking away any sweat to make themselves look more presentable. "No, no, we are here to see the majesties. We just... got a little sidetracked, is all." The earth pony smiled awkwardly. "Uh, do you have someplace we can wait, or..."

Taking a second to check them over, then deciding that they meant no harm, the guard nodded. "Follow me." Trotting briskly into the large gates, he quickly led them to a small, well guarded waiting room with plush chairs and large windows that effectively showed off the finer parts of Canterlot. "Here you go." Turning, he headed back to his post.

The room was mostly empty, save for a few random ponies that filtered around the room. Taking advantage of the mostly deserted room, they sprawled on the chairs, each with a lengthy stretch. "Aaaah." The unicorn sighed contently. "This is _nice_."

"Agreed." The pegasi sighed, stretching her wings out before refolding them against her back.

"Definitely." The earth pony laid back on the couch, making sure to keep her hooves off of the fabric so as to not dirty it. "Now, we wait."

"Fun." She grumbled tartly, watching the door.

"Oh, hush."

The wait was long, lasting a good portion of the afternoon. Ponies came and went. Some attempted to chat, while others huffily ignored them. Time was spent humming, drawing on scrap pieces of paper, and stretching idle wings that weren't used to being idle. The sun was just beginning it's slow dip down when a guard appeared at the doorway. "They'll see you now."

Rearranging themselves once again, they stood and trotted out the door, the earth pony calling a quick "Thanks!" before being escorted to the main throne room.

Princess Celestia smiled as the door heavily closed behind them. Beside her, Princess Luna gave them a formal nod, before remembering the current day and age and instead smiling as they crossed the large, plush red carpet and bowed.

"Er, hello there, your highnesses. I'm Applebloom, and this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. We, uh, wrote you a few friendship letters?"

"Ahhh, yes, I remember those letter well. What can I do for you girls?"

"Well... We we're kinda hopin'... if ya wouldn't mind, that is, if you would... uh..." Deciding to take some of the slack, her Unicorn friend attempted to reconstruct the request.

"Yeah, like she said. If you have the time... and you aren't to busy, obviously, we'd like it if you would, um..."

"We want to get married."

A moment of silence ensued. The trio fumbled for the proper words while the Princesses both calmly waited. A matter as important as marriage was never one to be rushed, especially one like this. "Oh? And why is that?"

"'Cause we love each other." Applebloom stared at the floor, her tail swishing behind her. Their was another long pause. She coughed. "Well, I'm guessin' you'll be needing a better explanation than that, huh? Well, it's kinda a long story..."

"Ya see, back when we were teenagers, there were a few ponies that made fun of us 'cause we weren't datin' anypony. It felt like everyone was pairin' up except for us. Eventually, we got sick of it, and tried to get ourselves partners."

Sweetie Belle coughed, then continued where her companion left off. "We looked everywhere, but no pony seemed quite right for any of us. We tried and we tried and we- well, you both get the point. Eventually, we all said 'phooey' with it and started pretend dating to drive them off. We came to a dance all dressed up and danced together all night long, just to get the point across. That night... it changed everything for us. We decided to 'date'- a really loose term for us, at the time- while we looked for our special someponies."

Scootaloo fiddled with her wings, stretching and flapping them distractedly. "And we did date ponies. All of us did, but, eventually... they all grew pretty boring. Over time, our 'dating' morphed into_ real_ dating. The stallions all melted away, and we fell for each other. It took awhile, and it had more than a few messes along the way, but it turned out pretty awesome. At least-" She beamed at her friends. "If you asked me, it did."

"When we got older, we started thinking about marriage. We thought about it for a long time." She paused, then flushed. "Well, it wasn't a long time for you both, your majesties, but it was a long time for us and-"

"Sweetie Belle, stop making things sound even more complicated."

"Sorry. Anyway, we thought it over for _a while_, and we all agreed that we wanted to get married." She flushed at the term. Glancing at the Pegasus, she rolled her eyes before continuing.

"We're really young to be getting married, we know, we're barely even adults, but I can't imagine settling down with anyone else, and I don't think they can either." She gave them a smile. They returned it.

"I know you probably think this is a bad idea, and that we're to young and all that, but we're ready. If you don't think so, then we're sorry for wastin' yer ti-"

"I'll be happy to marry you all." She smiled. "Don't you agree, sister?"

"Definitely. This is quite the worthy cause." She warmly agreed, smiling in satisfaction as their faces lit up.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Woo-hoo!" Scootaloo spun around in excitement. "They said yes! They said yes! I mean, uh-" She coughed, before quickly attempting to settle down, disinterestedly waving a hoof. "Cool."

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both giggled. Wrapping each other in a hug, squeals of excitement and happiness floated around the normally quiet room.

"Although, I must ask..." They paused, flushing at the reminder that they were not alone, and immediately took their seats side by side to politely listen. "Why come all the way here for marriage? The ministers in Ponyville would be more than happy to wed you, I'm sure."

"Oh." They visibly deflated, ears flattening against heads as their eyes traveled different directions of the room. In embarrassment? in worry? In a mixture of both? The princesses weren't sure. "Well, uh, sure they would, but, well..." She paused, deciding over her wording. "The ministers in Ponyville are kinda... old-school. They'd get us hitched, sure, but they'd want out families to come in to 'gift' us to each other, and..."

"They don't know yet." Applebloom finished, her head tilted towards the floor. "We were kind of hopin' to tell em... after the fact. Maybe."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. Not high enough to be offensive, but just high enough to show that her curiosity was sparked. "And why don't they know?"

"Well, it's not like they wouldn't be supportive or anything. They're really cool about this type of stuff and all, but..." Scootaloo paused, the hoof she'd been waving slowing down before stopping completely.

"My big sis wants to be a world famous fashion designer." Swettie Belle finally piped up, her usual cheerful demeanor disappearing for a moment as she continued. "If we were to come out, the things the other ponies would say to her... I know sis wouldn't mind, it's not like many ponies would care, but..._ I_ care, you know?"

Applebloom nodded. "And my Granny Smith... she's an old fashioned pony, and I know she'll love me no matter what I do, I still worry that I'd make her uncomfortable."

Scootaloo shrugged, averting her eyes from everything and everything alive. "My folks... they're cool, but they ain't home a lot. I always had neighbors to check up on me, they took care of me, fixed any damages to the house, the like. How could I tell them? 'Hey Ma, hey Pop, by the way, now that you're home for the first time in Celestia-knows-how-long and you don't really know that much about me or my friends, let me tell you about my two girlfriends?' I'm... I'm not even sure _what_ they'd think. It's... scary." She puffed out her chest. "Nothing I can't handle, of course, but still... It's only natural I'd worry, right?"

"Definitely." Applebloom chuckled, pulling her into a brief hug before pulling back. "Ah know it's selfish, but we wanted to wait until after we were married until we told them, that way they couldn't take us away from each other... pretty stupid, right?" She chuckled, a bit sadly, but not without humor. "It's not a big deal, your majesties, I promise."

"I see..." She closed her eyes a moment in silent contemplation before reopening them. "I do believe they'll accept you. I'll still wed you, even if you don't have their agreement, but I expect you to tell them as soon as you get back."

"Yes, your majesty."

"Good. Now, come closer. It's time."

The vows went smoothly, without a single bit of regret or fear in the room. Instead, pure joy and happiness filled the room and the surrounding halls, even putting the stoic guards that passed by in a good mood at the smiling faces of the young mares and the polite happiness of the princesses.

"I do." They whispered together, sitting up slightly, holding each others hooves. The position, while slightly awkward, was quite endearing to anypony who may have seen it, and provided warmth and comfort to the trio as they exchanged vows.

Eventually, the princess tapped her horn against the top of all of their heads. "I now pronounce you all as married."

"Thank ya kindly, yer majesty, for doing this for us." She giggled, feeling a light-headed sense of happiness wash over her. The others weren't far behind her, smiling goofy smiles that, while they looked strange to most, were both comforting and filled with love.

"I do so love weddings." Princess Luna trotted up to her post from the hallway beside the throne, causing her sister to raise a delicate eyebrow.

"As do I. Tell me, sister, where did you get off to? You almost missed the exchanging of the vows."

"I was getting the rings, of course." Black magic encased her horn as three necklaces contained small rings floated into view. While much to small to be born by hoof, the string was just the right size to fit around their necks. "It's tradition, you know. Here, try them on." Floating them up and over their head, the magic faded, causing the necklaces to fall over the heads. A spark of magic colored the room- this time more brightly colored- before fading away.

Applebloom glanced down. The ring itself rested in the middle of her chest, easily standing out from her surrounding coat. Half was colored bright orange and purple, whilst the other half was white and purple, the two colors easily mixing together towards the middle as if they belonged there. Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's rings were around the same, only with different colors- Red and milky white and white and purple, orange and purple and red and milky white respectively-.

"They look... stupendous!" Sweetie belle cheered, rearing up onto her back legs and waving her front hooves, the necklace floating into the air before falling back and thumping against her chest. "I know Rarity is going to lecture me on color coordination later, but I can't find it in me to care!"

Scootaloo snickered, taking a moment to admire the brightly colored metal set against her chest. "Well, it isn't my thing, but... It's pretty okay, I guess."

"Ya'll said it!" Turning back to the princess, Applebloom beamed. "Thank ya so much, Princess Luna." The smile faltered. "But uh, not ta' look a gift horse in the mouth or anythin' -'scuse the pun, I can't think of any other way ta' put it-, but are ya sure it's okay to give us such expensive jewelry out of nowhere like this?"

"Of course." She beamed back. "It's an old tradition, you know. This way, everyone will know you're married. The magic infused in them will make it so they don't come off while you are in love with each other. And, with a love like yours, I doubt that will happen anytime soon."

They shared a far less goofy smile, this one tender, loving, but still a bit hesitant, before turning back to the royalty in front of them. "Thank you, yer majesties, you've just granted one of the biggest wishes we've ever had."

"Yeah." Scootalo, surprisingly calm, tucked her head closer to her chest to feel the slowly warming metal against her chin. "Perfect..."

"Thank you so much!" Bowing, they lingered with their goodbyes before slowly trotting out the door. Saying a quick goodbye to the guard that escorted them out, they make their way down the streets towards the nearest train station. In the background, the sun was setting, forcing them to say goodbye to one of the greatest days they'd ever had.

"I just realized something..." They stopped at the waiting station, idly waiting for the train to arrive. They were in no rush, they'd left a note talking about an overnight stay in the clubhouse, yet they were filled with excited energy. The rings seemed to pulsate against their necks, reminding them of the recently exchanged vows, of life spent together.

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Well, it's one thing to keep our vows a secret until the certificate arrives and all, but... how are we gonna explain _these_?" She gestured to her necklace, so bright against their coats, by waving a hoof. They all paused in sudden realization.

"You know, Sweetie Belle, ya may just have a point there..."

Grunting, she pressed a hoof against her head. "We really should've thought this through..."

At the castle, Princess Luna looked over the pavilion, watching the city-goers with a smile, idly waiting for the moon to rise. Trotting along to stand beside her, Princess Celestia turned towards her darker-colored sibling.

"Luna... you are aware that magic rings aren't a tradition in this era, correct? Some ponies opt for them, but most of the time they don't bother..."

She chuckled a little. "I'm quite aware, dear sister, but I thought it might give them the little push they need to tell their families. Besides, did you see how pleased they were? They _loved_ them."

"Yes, I noticed." She chuckled, watching the impending sunset. "Perhaps that push will be for the better. After all, it's better than hiding for the rest of their lives."

"True, sister, very, very true. I merely hope their love can survive the trials of life."

Watching the sun sink into the earth, the bright orange colors tinting the normally pure white city, she shook her head. "I wouldn't worry about that, Luna. I do believe they have it covered."

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


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